Editorial: Sorry, kids: Mom and Dad need to know about tickets

Tuesday

Mar 25, 2008 at 12:01 AMMar 25, 2008 at 11:19 AM

We can picture the scene and feel the tension already: The teenager arrives home from school and is greeted by Mom holding The Letter. The envelope bears the official logo of the Illinois State Police, and comes from District 9 headquarters in Springfield. The Letter has just informed Mom about the speeding ticket the teen had so carefully tried to hide from the previous weekend.

We can picture the scene and feel the tension already: The teenager arrives home from school and is greeted by Mom holding The Letter. The envelope bears the official logo of the Illinois State Police, and comes from District 9 headquarters in Springfield. The Letter has just informed Mom about the speeding ticket the teen had so carefully tried to hide from the previous weekend.

A few blocks away, a similar scene unfolds. In this case, though, the teen in question didn't get a ticket. He was a passenger in the car driven by the teen above when it was stopped for traveling 86 mph in a 65 zone. The letter doesn't name any other names; it just informs the parents that their child was in the speeding car when it was stopped.

We have no doubt that the above scenario will unfold dozens, maybe hundreds, of times in Springfield area households in the coming months, thanks to a parental notification program that will soon start in District 9. It will cause some momentary strife and probably result in some teens handing over the car keys for a while.

And it's probably the best thing for teen driving safety since last year's adoption of a set of tough new state laws that set new restrictions and education requirements for Illinois' youngest and most at-risk drivers.

"It's not just geared toward the teen driver," says Capt. James Wolf, the commander of District 9 who adopted the new policy. "Mom and Dad need to know if their child was a passenger in a vehicle that is ticketed. Hopefully these letters will cause them to sit down and have that conversation with their son or daughter about these situations."

Some traffic offenses, like alcohol violations and speeding more than 30 mph over the speed limit, already require notification of 16- and 17-year-old drivers' parents. But there is no provision for informing parents of passengers who are not issued tickets. The new District 9 program corrects that by notifying parents in speeding cases of more than 21 mph over the limit, seat belt and curfew violations and violations of Illinois' graduated license rules. Troopers have discretion over which cases warrant informing parents of passengers, Wolf said.

Wolf is not speaking hypothetically about these incidents. A car with a 17-year-old driver and three passengers under 18 was stopped recently on I-55 for going 104 mph while returning from a high school volleyball game. A 16-year-old driver with young passengers was clocked at 97 mph on I-55.

"I would have wanted to know if my sons were passengers in cars being driven by knuckleheads," notes Wolf, himself the father of two college students.

We think any responsible parent would agree.

Wolf estimates his officers could send hundreds of the form letters out each year, based on rough data from past years. He acknowledges that the program may have to be adjusted if its paperwork overwhelms the district's administrative staff. Regardless, it's a good start to a policy that - when ironed out - ought to be adopted by other police agencies.

"I would much rather send out a letter," says Wolf, "than have to send my troopers to knock on doors and tell parents their child has died because of a poor decision."